Taggart gets first win as USF beats Cincinnati

TAMPA – All it took was changing the school colors to green and pink. And one giant leap by Mike McFarland.

The University of South Florida junior erased a potentially crippling mistake, blocking an early field-goal attempt by Cincinnati's Tony Miliano.

Within just a few seconds, after Nate Godwin snatched the rebound, woke up an announced crowd of 31,077 and sprinted 75 yards for a Bulls touchdown Saturday night, a season's worth of frustration had vanished.

USF was off and running to a 26-20 victory over Cincinnati in its inaugural American Athletic Conference game at Raymond James Stadium, giving Manatee High graduate Willie Taggart his first victory as the Bulls' head coach.

Suddenly, it didn't matter who played quarterback or if the offense ever scored another touchdown. A swarming defense was forcing turnovers at every turn. Kicker Marvin Kloss made four field goals, including a career-long 52-yarder. Linebacker DeDe Lattimore turned Julius Forte's sack and forced fumble into a 10-yard touchdown.

The USF locker room was raucous. Taggart was singing an old Sam Cooke tune during the post-game press conference:

“It's been a long, long time coming. But I know a change will come.”

Yet his first win began, more or less, the way every USF game had begun lately.

On just the second play, Cincinnati junior linebacker Jeff Luc ripped the ball out of Marcus Shaw's left arm, setting up the Bearcats (3-2 overall, 0-1 AAC) at the Bulls' 24, a scant 56 seconds after the opening kick.

But USF's defense held and McFarland – charging from up the middle – jumped high to block Miliano's 40-yard field goal attempt. Godwin grabbed the ball and took off down the Bulls' sideline, with Cincy's kicker in hot pursuit.

Miliano had the angle, but he didn't have the speed.

He didn't have the pink socks, wrist bands and gloves donned by USF's players in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, either.

“We're believing in ourselves now and gaining confidence. We've got to play that way, play to make winning plays. That's what our guys did tonight. They made winning plays.”

And winning felt better than great.

“It's been a long time, and that locker room is going crazy,” said quarterback Bobby Eveld (10-of-16, 122 yards), who stepped in for injured starter Steven Bench in the first quarter. “You put in all this hard work, and it doesn't really pay off when you lose.”

Senior safety Mark Joyce quickly gave the Bulls (1-4, 1-0) another break, intercepting Brendon Kay's third-down pass at Cincinnati's 43 and returning it to the 30, setting up Kloss' 25-yard field goal at 7:55 of the first quarter.

“It feels great I love to see all these guys laughing and having a great time,” Joyce said. “We haven't had that in awhile.”

Bench (1-of-1, 7 yards) departed on the short drive, limping off the field after scrambling for two yards to the Bearcats' 11 on second-and-7, and appearing to injure his right knee. He was later joined on the sideline by Shaw (nine carries, 27 yards), who was lost to a leg injury early in the second quarter.

Kloss added his 52-yarder early in the second quarter, capping a 12-play USF drive, and added a 24-yarder to give the hosts a commanding 23-6 halftime lead.

Kay (24-of-36, 240 yards, 3 TDs) found Moore – unattended at the goal line on a crossing pattern – for a 27-yard scoring pass with 14:19 left in the game, narrowing Cincinnati's deficit to 26-13.

The Bearcats drove inside USF's 10 with seven minutes to go, but redshirt senior Ryne Giddins cracked Tion Green – a sophomore from Sanford – for a 3-yard loss on fourth-and-1 from the 8.

It was a pivotal moment, especially after Kay's 15-yard scoring pass to Mekale McKay, the 6-foot-6 sophomore's second TD, with 2:03 remaining made it 26-20. Miliano's onside kick was covered by the Bulls' Deonte Welch at Cincinnati's 47.

The Bulls – the only AAC team not returning its starting quarterback – had lost its first four games by an average of 23.3 points, suffering embarrassments at home against McNeese State (53-21) and Florida Atlantic (28-10).

Since last season's 2-0 start, they had lost 13 of 14 and quickly plucked Taggart from Western Kentucky last Dec. 8, after firing Skip Holtz. He has struggled to keep spirits high while rebuilding a program that made six consecutive bowl trips from 2005-10, but is only 9-20 since.

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